Dec. 13--Deluged with phone calls from policyholders after Hurricane Irma, state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is planning to create a self-service online portal in time for the 2018 hurricane season.

"There are lessons learned from every event, and what we learned very quickly during Irma is that we did not have an online claims capability," Citizens President and CEO Barry Gilway said at the company's Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday. Citizens, he said, had a "huge issue because of the magnitude of the calls we were getting in."

The online claims portal will enable customers to file an initial notice of a loss, then track progress of the claim adjustment, Gilway said. "From a consumer standpoint, it clearly will be a huge benefit."

Citizens has received 63,500 claims related to Irma and has closed about 80 percent of them.

Online claims reporting systems are relatively new in the property insurance industry, and many companies continue to require customers to report claims by phone or through agents. Most large companies contract with outside vendors to take calls and assist customers through the process.

A growing number of insurers, however, encourage customers to create online accounts and file claims electronically. The companies then contact customers directly to collect more details about the claims. Insurers with online claims portals include Universal Property & Casualty, Federated National, United Property & Casualty and Security First.

The online claims reporting system would be part of "programs and infrastructure that will provide Citizens with advanced insights into customer behavior, needs, desire and overall experience," according to remarks released with Citizens' 2018 budget document.

Citizens has budgeted $2.3 million over four years for the project.

The company isn't planning to abandon traditional communication methods. Its governing board approved spending $47.9 million over five years to contract with nine commercial vendors for inbound and outbound call center services.

The vendors will respond to initial claims reports, requests for basic and specialized support, plus handle inbound and outbound calls during catastrophes.

Other news:

-- Citizens' 2018 budget was approved based on the company's assumption it will grow from 442,639 policies to 500,133 policies. The projection is based on a belief that private market insurers will reduce the number of policies they are willing to take on because of Hurricane Irma losses and continued growth in lawsuits stemming from what Gilway called "scams" by private repair vendors that convince policyholders to sign over benefits of their claims.

-- Citizens' outlay for reinsurance -- which is insurance that insurance companies buy to protect reserves available to pay claims -- will increase from $92.6 million in 2017 to $100 million in 2018 as reinsurance providers factor in risks of future catastrophes.

-- The company's reserves declined from $7.4 billion to $6.5 billion as a result of $1.1 billion in projected Hurricane Irma losses. The company reported a net loss of $944,166 in the third quarter ending Sept. 30.

-- Property owners in the hard-hit Florida Keys are facing a shortage of contractors to estimate repair costs and begin making repairs, reported Jay Adams, Citizens' chief claims officer. Money paid by Citizens for displaced homeowners to rent other living quarters will begin running out after Jan. 1, just as short-term rental rates increase in the Keys, Adams said. Citizens plans to maintain a full-time staff of adjusters in the region through June, Adams said.

-- In a news release, Citizens spokesman Michael Peltier said Citizens plans to make additional payments to hurricane victims who have already received payments "if further Irma-related damage is discovered or market conditions render the initial settlement inadequate to make reasonable repairs on covered losses."

-- The release also said a new $10,000 water damage cap on water damage payments previously scheduled to take effect on Feb. 1, for customers who do not agree to use Citizens' new preferred vendor program, will instead take effect May 1.